Breakfast Smoothie.

My friends quuuuuite often ask who eats all the things that I make....I think they get confused because here I am, documenting all the (fat and sugar laden) treats that do indeed emerge from my oven, and they see me, not exactly obese, and actually quite a health-obsessed-bean. 

And I shall tell you, that I probably eat moooost of what I cook. See I live with a boy who'd rather have a plate of steak than a plate of biscuits and would rather have a second helping of main course than save room for the dessert and only someone obsessed with cake, both the baking and eating, would write a blog all about cake. I like to eat cake.

But because I bake all the time, I don't do the things that I imagine people that don't bake as often, imagine that I do (does that make sense). What I mean is, baking is an everyday thing for me (in the BEST way), so I don't get over excited and eat all the mixture before it's gone in the oven, or nibble away at all the biscuits sitting on the cooling rack. And I am quite often baking foooor something...a birthday, where I can share stuff, or a time of day that I really need to eat and can tailor my baking exactly to it (see my special spinning bars). I have pudding after dinner most days...but because I know that that's what I want to do, I make allowances when it comes to how much of the savoury stuff I eat.

Plus....a day of mine is not complete without a good sweat; mostly in the form of pounding out the miles on two legs. If I'm going somewhere and I can run there, I will. And finally, not eeeeevry day of mine starts with pancakes....and I thought I should show you one of my favourite non-usually-bloggy breakfasts. P-P-P-Packed with good stuff and easy to digest if you've got a hardcore sweating sesh planned. Hope that solves the mystery. With Love and Cake.

My Favourite Breakfast Smoothie.

A few notes:

• I'm afraid I've made this so many times that I don't really do any weighing, and who wants to get the scales out before breakfast anyway...not me. So I hope you don't mind the vagueness of the quantities here.
• While this is my fav combination of stuff, think of it as a blue print; change berries, change liquid, change protein...it's up to you.
• I have decided that I will, from now on, never buy fresh spinach again; I don't love it as a salad leaf anyway and I just end up throwing half the bag away because it's gone bad before I use it....hence the frozen stuff here...and as long as your blender's good and powerful enough to cope with ice, all will be well.
• If you're blender is sub-par however, I'd suggest partially thawing out the frozen stuff, either by getting it out the freezer half an hour or so before you blend, or by a quick stint in the microwave.

Serves 1

You will need

a blender, definitely a blender

frozen blueberries, a good handful

frozen spinach, 3ish pellets (or a large handful of the fresh stuff)

1/2 frozen banana

milk 

1 tsp honey 

1 heaped dessertspoon smooth, natural peanut butter.

• Put the berries and spinach in your blender and just about cover with milk.
• Blend for a few minutes until everything seems pretty smooth.
• Add the honey and peanut butter and a splash of water if it looks like you'd like the texture a little looser.
• Blend again to combine.
• Pour into a big glass and feel suuuuuper.

Egg Nog.

I have been meaning to make Egg Nog for foooorevvvver. I never really knew what it was, what was in it or how to make it....I just knew that I wanted it. Turns out....it's boozy custard. It's custard AND YOU DRINK IT. Even as I write this, having made it and drank it, I'm not sure if I'm over-excited because obviously drinkable, alcoholic custard is the most genius invention ever or that I'm actually a bit aggitated because boozy drinkable custard is an insane idea and the thought of it is a teeny bit gross.

I think maybe it's a mixture of the two. It is indeed delicious and the brandy and nutmeg make it wholey festive feeling; I really do feel very 'Little Women' at just the thought of the words Egg Nog, but the fact that I watched myself whisk eggs and cook them and pour them into glasses gives it an ever so slight yuck factor.

Ahhh so the answer is to get someone else to make fooor you. Thaaaaat's what you should do. Because I wouldn't want you to miss out, it is a massive treat after all....and if you're a creamy, after-dinner cocktail fan, I'm thinking Brandy Alexanders or the infamous White Russian, then this is RIGHT up your street.

With the rest of mine I'll probably use it as actual custard over mince pies and such like...because that makes total sense, brandy cream is an actual thing people make. But lets be honest, tis the season for things not to make sense really....a fat man fitting down chimneys, flying reindeer, little elves making X-Boxes...and if we can believe all that then should be able to embrace drinkable custard right? With Love and Cake.

Egg Nog.

A few notes:

• When doing my research for this recipe I find millions and trillions of different versions...some that separated the eggs, some with bourbon, some cold some hot etcetcetc. This is an emalgumation of several that I think feels like the most traditional and is definitely the least expensive in terms of shelling out for loads of different bottles of spirits.
• If you don'y have brandy maybe you have whisky and could use that instead, or maybe Bailey's would work too....eveeevery one has baileys.
• You can serve egg nog freshly warm out the pan or chill it and serve cold...I guss it just depends how warm you want your cockles to be.
• If the idea of drinking custard doesn't appeal, this would be perfect in the place of regular custard over Christmassy delights like mince pies or Christmas pudding.

Makes 4 small servings

You will need

1 pint milk

25g caster sugar

good splash vanilla extract

3 eggs

100ml brandy

good pour of double cream

freshly grated nutmeg

• In a medium sized heavy based saucepan, heat the milk and sugar gently until just starting to boil.
• Whisk the eggs gently in a bowl with the vanilla and slowly pour over the milk, whisking constantly.
• Give the saucepan a quick wipe around so it's pretty much clean and pour the eggy milk back into the pan.
• Return the pan to a very gently heat, stir fairly often until the mixture is thickens slightly and a good coating sticks to the back of a wooden spoon.
• Remove the mixture from the hot pan or it will continue to cook.
• Once it has cooled slightly, whisk in the brandy and cream.
• You can serve as it is, toasty warm, or chill and serve cold. Either way dust with plenty of nutmeg.

Cherries In Brandy.

Hello. Today I give you this recipe, knowing full well that you will never, never ever, be a preserver. Yesyes I knoooooooow you will never own a sugar thermometer, or know or care about ‘setting points’, or save jam jars in a box under your bed. But here I am anyway, on the off chance that you happen across some wonderful fruit and need to make it last.

I know it can be tricky to shop and cook for one. What’s happened over my summer you see, is that the wandering Mr Love and Cake has returned from the depths of Scotland after trips away, causing me to excitedly stock up on a fridge-full of goodies, only for him to be called away again at a moment’s notice. Hence my need for brandy and sugar....in the recipeeeeeee obviouslllllly, and my anticipation of yours too.

Maybe you will walk past a posh London food market (yes folks, sis has been entangled in the capital’s tentacles and may never escape....must change the blog’s tagline), and simply have to have that half kilo of shiny, end of season fruit. But once home, with your mouth and your mouth alone available for their onward journey, they start to decompose before your very eyes. Brandy and sugar to the rescue...FOR THE FRUIT.

It doesn’t have to be cherries and there’s no heat requireD...it’s really rather a simple process. Aaaaaand when you’ve gobbled up all the drunken fruit , what you’re left with is the most delectable fruit liqueur. See I knew I could make a jar saver out of you. With Love and Cake.

 

Cherries in Brandy.

Adapted from River Cottage Handbook No 7: Hedgerow.

• These are rather free form instructions, everything depends on how much fruit you've got really, and how they pack into your jars...just go with it, and feel laid back man.
• The original recipe is written for small wild strawberries, fat chance of you getting hold of them, so feel free to mix it up a bit in terms of what fruit you have, that is, ultimately, the point of preserving such as this. 
• To sterilise your jars, all you need to do is pop the in the oven on their side and turn your oven on to 170°c. When the temperature is reached, pop a timer on for 10 minutes, and turn the oven off when the timer pings. Leave them in the warm oven until you need them.

You will need

Sterilised jars

cherries

granulated sugar

brandy

• Prick each of your cherries a couple of times with a knife or skewer and the brandy can get inside and make them all delicious.
• Fill you jar about one third full with fruit then pour oven with sugar so the fruit is covered and gaps are filled.
• Keep going like this until your jar or jars are filled with fruit.
• Pour over the brandy, give the jars a bang on a table and wait a few minutes for the air to escape and the brandy to find its way right to the bottom.
• Top up the jar with more brandy if you need and seal the jars.
• The cherries should keep for a good while but why should they, when you can top a cake with them, use them, stoned, in a trifle, they're great with meringue and cream or just pop them straight from jar into mouth.

Iced Coffee...In Hope.

Okok I know todaaaaaay might not be an Iced Coffee day. Well it might be with you I guess, living in the microclimate of eternal sunshine and crystal seas of Cornwall, but I know most places, on this June day (JUNE...COME ON), are facing weather warnings and inside out umbrellas.

Seriously....Whhhhhhy do we do this to ourselves. ‘Summer’. It doesn’t meaaaaan anything. “Have a nice summer.” “What shall we do this summer.” “See you over the summer.” Really, summer = that time when Wimbledon gets rained on, Glastonbury gets rained on and the washing, hung outside in a cloud free moment, gets rained on.

The most important summer related phrase is “are you going anywhere nice this summer?” Because really, that’s the only thing to do...ruuuun. Run to somewhere with a real summer. Somewhere where you don’t risk a heart attack by jumping in the sea. And somewhere where Iced Coffee is the standard, not the celebration of 2 hours of temps above 20°.

Heck...we live here though, so we best just buck up, pop the heating back on and get on with it I spose. Howeeeveeeeer in eternal hope, I suggest you get some of this ready and waiting in your freezer, just in case there’s a day around the corner on which the sun shines favourable on us, because when that day arrives, yes when, it'll be too late. Fingers cross, sun dance danced and sun god worshipped. With Love and Cake.

Iced Coffee.

A few notes:

• Basically this is coffee ice cubes, defrosted in milk. Simple. So I won't get faffy with specific measurements. Hope you don't mind.
• It's actually a great way to use up coffee that's left over, and has maybe been sitting around in the cafetiere for a while. Any time you find more than just the dregs left over, pour them in an ice cube tray and add to your stash.
• I usually put a lot of sugar in the coffee before I freeze it. I like supersweet coffee anyway but something happens to cold coffee which I think makes it extra bitter. So maybe give it a quick taste before you freeze it and make it a tad sweeter than you would usually enjoy.

You will need 

Strong black coffee

sugar

milk

• Ok so first you need to sweeten your black coffee to just a bit sweeter than you usually like by stirring in some sugar so it dissolves (see notes).
• Then pour it into ice cube trays and pop in your freezer.
• When it's frozen, transfer your coffee ice cubes into a plastic food bag and keep stashed at the bag of your freezer and keep your fingers crossed for a sunny day.
• On that elusive occasion, a few hours before you want the drink, or maybe before a picnic a or lunch, fill your vessel; be it a single glass, big jug, or outdoors friendly Thermos, with your coffee ice cubes and pour over enough of your favourite milk to cover.
• Slowly slowly the coffee goodness will melt into it's milky surroundings and give you heaven on a hot day. Enjoy. And never EVER complain about the heat. 

Homemade Lemonade

Hiiyaa, so it seems I'm on a bit of a lemon kick. I think it must be because it feels like we've had all that Scotland has to offer in terms of summer this year. I'm pretty sure we've averaged two nice days a month and that we've had all we'll get for this month...it must now be time to don woolly socks, close the curtains early and despair that the washing will never get dry. 

I therefore feel compelled, given that it is still only really August, to fill our little flat with as many summer vibes as possible. Enough to drown out the pitter-patter of rain against the windows. And so what could be more appropriate to bring that summer feeling than sunshine coloured, sharply-sweet homemade lemonade.

This was one of July's two sunny days, or was it in my sunny daydream?

I have no idea how the clear, fizzy stuff that has never seen a lemon in its life relates to this still and traditional version. I would never choose to drink the fizzy stuff, except with Pimms of course, but give me the real deal, that almost induces a wince with its sharpness quickly followed by the reassuring presence of sugar and I can feel the sun on my face, even in Fife, on a rainy day. 

If you've never tried it homemade before...as in proper homemade, not from a bottle that is labelled homemade, I say have a gogogo at knocking up a batch. It's not time consuming and it will make you feel all Enid Blyton. With Love and Cake. 

Homemade Lemonade

From Delia's Summer Collection.

A few notes:

• You must use unwaxed lemons, otherwise you'll pretty much be making wax-ade, yuck.
• When removing the peel, try to only take the yellow part. The white part will add bitterness.
• This looks boootiful in lovely swing top bottles, but fear not, plain old plastic ones will do just fine too.

Makes just under 2 litres

You will need

a non-metal bowl

bottles

6 lemons

150ml granulated sugar

1.5 l water

• First give the lemons a really good wash and scrub.
• Next, use a potato peeler to remove the yellow layer of peel and pop in your bowl.
• Squeeze all the lemons and pour the juice onto the peel followed by the sugar.
• Next boil the water, pour on top of all the lovely lemonyness and give everything a good stir.
• Cover with a tea towel and leave aside in a cool place overnight.
• Next morning have a taste. If it's too sharp for you add a bit more sugar.
• You can strain it at this point if you fancy but I like the bits left in.
• Transfer to your bottle, chill and enjoy with lots of ice and topped up with a splash of fizzy water if you'd like. Soak up the sun. 

Summer Fruit Saviour

Alreeeet me loveeeer,

Do you remember those Eddie Izzard tapes we listened to for the hours and hours that we drove around Ireland for a good few summers? Covered in Beeeeeeeeees. Do you remember the bit about the pears where he explains, in his fabulously contrary manner, how they wait, rock hard, in the fruit bowl. Wait, waaaiiiiit, waaaaaaaaaaaaaait, until we turn our backs and then blllluuuuueegggh, they’re mush. Well that is what has been happening to me.

 Not with pears though but with the summer fruit I’ve been waiting for so patiently. I get over excited seeing nectarines and cherries and peaches and raspberries and strawberries all looking so plump and shiny and juicy looking. So I load up, make them look pretty in their new bowl-shaped home and look forward to juice running down my chin. Well. It doesn't really work like that. They waaait and waaaait and waaaaait, and I either catch them too soon and they are sour and tough or blluueghh; mouldy mush.

 Now I’m of the mind that coming up with a solution to having too squishy summer fruit  in the house is a much more time-efficient way to fix things that solving the problem of buying them in the first place, which would probably require some sort of intervention. It’s compulsive you see, I feel constantly on the hunt for satisfyingly sweet, perfectly pert fruit and not buying any feels like giving in to the stereotype that Scotland doesn't do fruit. I know that is not true.

Solution = Smoothie. And not Dad’s sort of smoothie, the ‘blend all the manky stuff that the fridge contains and consume’ smoothie. No. This old girl is considered; requiring just enough care and attention to make her delicious without being bothersome of a morning. She is the perfect breakfast and really does keep you going till lunch.

Peach and Blueberry Smoothie.

A few notes:

·         I keep the blueberries, milk and honey as the consistent undercurrent to this recipe; the peach part being the thing that I chop and change and experiment with depending on the fruit situation...

·         I therefore buy frozen blueberries from the supermarket, which makes it much cheaper and they’re ready and waiting for you. No need to defrost, just pop straight in the blender.

·         My favourite variation, and one that is lovely to make when it’s not summer but you wish it was, involves subbing the peach for 100g strawberries, which I also often have in the freezer, and adding a blob of peanut butter. Eat with a spoon and thank me after.

Serves one

You will need

A blender

75g blueberries

1 over-ripe peach

150ml your favourite milk

Honey, to taste (start with 1 tsp)

·         Blend.

·         Sip.

·         Aaaah.

Lashings of...

Hiiiiiii far away one,

Apparently, not one of the Famous Five books actually speaks of lashings of ginger beer, only lashings of hard boiled eggs. This is nonsensical, how the heck can hard boiled eggs lash? Cool, bubbly, zingy ginger beer on a hot, sunshiney day...much more lash-worthy. What was Enid thinking!

You might think that making your own ginger beer is a bit too effortful for your liking, and that’s fine, it’s not exactly something you can whip up spontaneously. I just thought that should by some miracle you find yourself with a dead-cert of a sunnyshiney day around the corner and you have an outdoorys thing to attend, this might be a fun and rather smug-making thing to turn up with in hand. Far more exciting than wine...no? Ok, but still quite exciting.

My first attempt at making this made me sad. It tasted like fizzy yeast water, urrrgh. But the fizzyness impressed me so I tried, tried again...and followed my trusted  motto “if in doubt, add more sugar”. A triumph. Despite the call for a few days forward planning, this is actually a rather easy drink to make, no need for fancy equipment or super accurate measuring. Just don’t let those you serve it to know of that and let the smugness commence. With Love and Cake.

Ginger Beer

Adapted from Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer by Jane Brocket

A few notes:

·         Feel free to use beautiful swing top glass bottles and channel the George and Timmy chic, but a handy alternative is a 2 litre water bottle, which means if you don’t have one already you only need to spend 16p and you can use the water from it (if it’s still) in the recipe.

·         I don’t have an airing cupboard so for the part that says ‘leave in a warm place’ I like to turn one of my electric hob rings on to heat up for a minute or 2, then turn it off, wait for 5 minutes for it to be cool enough to touch, and then stand the bucket or bowl on top of a folded tea towel on top of the hob. But please don’t set fire to things. Thanks.

·         Plan to make it 2 or 3 days before you want to drink it.

·         Tastes better when accompanied by sunshine and sand and adventures involving tunnels, fact.

Makes about 2 litres

You will need...

1 large non-metallic bowl or bucket

2 litres worth of bottles

½ Lemon, skin and pith removed, thinly sliced

300g granulated sugar  

40g fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

1 ½ tsp cream of tartar

800-900ml boiling water

1 ½ tsp baking yeast

·         First things first, put the lemon, sugar, ginger and cream of tartar in your big bowl or bucket and pour over the freshly boiled water.

·         Leave to cool to lukewarm.

·         Stir in the yeast, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for 24 hours.

·         Now skim off any mankyness that has gathered on the top, strain into a jug and bottle. I don’t have a jug big enough to put it all in at once so my process is...ladle some of the liquid through a sieve into jug, pour from jug into bottle, repeat repeat repeat.

·         Make sure you leave about a 10cm gap of air at the top of the bottle to allow for the bubbly expansion.

·         Screw the top of the bottle up tight and snuffle away for 12-36 hours. Though do slightly unscrew the top a few times along the way to allow for a bit of gas to escape, I find this part uber satisfying.

·         Now go forth and drink your homemade lashings with lots of ice and lemon slices, for elegance more that anything.

M